Rice growers to continue battle for funding

Ben Noble, the USA Rice Federation's new vice president for government affairs and a native of Ethel, Ark., told growers the Federation will fight to maintain funding for farm programs, as well as work to secure disaster assistance for U.S. rice producers.

"While we're going to be aggressively seeking funding for many farm programs, the budget realities are tough," Noble said. "We'll be playing a lot of defense just to protect what we already have."

"Maintaining federal safety net programs is critical, especially now during some of the roughest economic times our industry has ever seen," said Stuart Proctor, president and CEO of the USA Rice Federation. "At the same time, we will continue to maximize our dollars to implement effective domestic and international promotions to market our way to profitability."

The biggest challenge, Noble says, is going to be convincing the non-farm state members of Congress that continued farm support is necessary. "There was a large misperception last year that agriculture received more than its fair share of the budget pie. We know this is not true, and we’re working to educate members of Congress about the need for continued funding.”

"We're going to continue working with our allies in Congress to stress the importance of the farm income safety net," he says.

Securing disaster assistance for producers, Proctor says, is more critical now than ever. "If the federal government had not imposed embargoes on our top former markets – Cuba, Iran and Iraq – the rice industry would not be the position of needing additional support now,” he says.

Also at the meeting, Joe Mencer, president of the Arkansas Rice Council, announced the results from the group's 2003 board of director's election.

This year's representatives are: District 1, Tommy Hoskyn of Stuttgart; District 2, John King III of Helena; District 3, Steve Orlicek of Stuttgart; District 4, Robert Petter Jr. of Duvall’s Bluff; District 5, David Carter of England; District 6, Marvin Hare Jr. of Newport; District 7, John Cooper of Wynne; District 8, Roger Pohlner of Fisher; District 9, Dean Wall of Walnut Ridge; and District 10, Kyle Baltz of Pocahontas.